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Thursday night’s preseason opener against Tampa Bay is being touted as anything but a mere exhibition. Quarterback Carson Wentz, entrusted to return the franchise to glory... and maybe even author a Super Bowl win, is expected to make his debut against a defense stocked with players just trying to make the Buccaneers’ roster.

Jack McCaffery: Wentz debut will give early hint at Eagles’ future

Thursday night’s preseason opener against Tampa Bay is being touted as anything but a mere exhibition. Quarterback Carson Wentz, entrusted to return the franchise to glory... and maybe even author a Super Bowl win, is expected to make his debut against a defense stocked with players just trying to make the Buccaneers’ roster.

PHILADELPHIA >> The Eagles will play their preseason opener Thursday night. For once, it will be anything but meaningless.

While the score may not matter, and most of the plays will be generic, and too many of the players will be forgotten soon after, the game will provide Carson Wentz with his only chance at a first impression. And rarely has that frustrated, flailing organization put as much of itself and its resources into a gamble that cannot be lost.

The load the Eagles sent to Cleveland, which included picks in the first, second, third and fourth rounds, was not so much a price as it was a sacrifice. The commitment they made to a high-mid-major quarterback who played seven games as a senior was not just a chance, but an all-in shove.

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By then, the Eagles hadn’t only spent heavily in the offseason on one quarterback, but on two. By then, they had already made what should have been their signature offseason move by changing coaches. But by then, they were in a foam-mouthed frenzy to command the boldest of the draft-night headlines. So they did.

Now what?For some reason, and that reason is a touch more mysterious than it should be, the Eagles immediately covered Wentz in layers of protection, insisting he was the quarterback of the future, not the present. Even through an offseason in which all with access have been insisting praised Wentz’s work ethic and film-room attention span, Doug Pederson refused to allow him to audition for the No. 1 quarterback spot. Instead, Wentz began the offseason at No. 3, maneuvered through training camp as No. 3 and, of course, will be the third quarterback Pederson motions into the game Thursday night. After Sam Bradford plays a drive or two and Chase Daniel plays long enough to be booed, Wentz will start the second half and, indications are, work into the fourth quarter, when McLeod Bethel-Thompson will enter, wielding the mop.

Wentz, who spent five years at North Dakota State, already is 23. And every report from training camp was that he was anything but out of place among major-league players. Pederson will provide him with a script for his first handful of plays, which should ease the stress … the stress on the quarterback, the stress on the coach.

But then, it’s on.“He’s very comfortable with where he is at,” Pederson said Tuesday, at a NewsControl Compound press briefing. “He is getting better every day. I mentioned that the other day. I’ve seen a lot of young quarterbacks that come in and struggle mentally with the terminology and the overall volume of offense that we have in at this time. But I haven’t seen that from him at all.

“We haven’t had any communication breakdowns in the huddle with him. So, we’re very pleased with where he is mentally. And now it is just a matter of continuing to detail his work and fine-tune some of the mechanics.”

While that might not need to be troublesome for the Eagles and their fans, it is at least fair warning to not overspend on the Carson Wentz replica swag. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, physically mature and determined to be prepared. Yet he might have a mechanical issue. He might not, either. But whatever issues or skills or potential he has, Eagles fans will finally have a chance to see them against a screaming, streaming, steaming rush of would-be Buccaneers who would be glad to embarrass him for their own benefit.

By the time Wentz enters Thursday, he likely will be protected by third-string linemen and throwing to third-string pass-catchers. But he should also be attacking third-string defensive backs. Basically, it will be kind of playing at North Dakota State. But at least he will be playing. He’ll be passing and running and absorbing contact. He will give the fans in the Linc a hint, a chance to decide whether sending an avalanche of picks to Cleveland was a good idea.

Every club makes mistakes, in the draft, in trades, in contracts. Some can be camouflaged. But if the Eagles are wrong about Wentz, it will cost them for a decade. Longer, maybe. Already, there are reports that Lane Johnson could miss most of the season after another flunked drug test. If so, the Birds will struggle. They will not, however, be rewarded with the corresponding high first-round draft choice because that went to the Browns for Wentz.

It’s possible — OK, why not call it likely, given the reports from the draft know-it-alls? — that Wentz will be a special NFL quarterback. If so, he doesn’t have to prove that in one half of one exhibition game in August of his rookie season. But draftniks, and the Eagles’ scouting department too, elevated Wentz to the A list because of his speed, his arm, his accuracy, his preparation, his leadership tendencies. Maybe he does throw an interception Thursday. Two, even. But those identifying football characteristics must be on full display.

“Well, the biggest thing is just his decision-making,” Pederson said. “The timing of throws, the accuracy of throws, how well he manages the offense and how well they move. Basically, it’s allowing him to just have fun and cut it loose.

“He’s such a mobile guy that when he can scramble and get on the perimeter. He has the ability to make some tremendous and accurate throws out of the pocket. I’m kind of excited to watch him do those types of things in a live setting.”

And that gives meaning, real meaning, to an otherwise insignificant game.